Being returned. He was adopted on June 17th 2008. The email from his owner states that "he has started itching and is allergic to something and won't stop." And that he "suddenly started peeing and pooping in the house."

I call them back and the wife is not home. The husband works away from home all week. First thing he says when I call is "I don't want him goin' somewhere and bein' put down."

Umm, yeah.

So I ask him what has been done to correct the issue and I am met with "I'm away all week and I wasn't with her at the vet but I don't got hundreds of dollars to be spendin' on a vet bill."

Ok, so I ask if they have changed his food to which he says he doesn't know.

Ok. So I leave a message for his wife, who SHOULD know these things, right? And we shall see where we get with answers. She did fill out our Owner Surrender form and admits she has not kept him on flea or heartworm preventative. Fantastic! Way to ignore the contract!

Back to topic. We took Alex in from a PA shelter in 2008. He has lived these past 2 1/2 years with a cat. He WAS housebroken - no clue what happened that suddenly he is not anymore. He is good with other dogs and children. And super-handsome. He is 3-4 years old now.

Only photo I have from way back then.



Know anyone who might want to foster this guy as we figure out what is going on???? PLEASE let me know! We are in northeast PA.

I'm gonna wager a guess and say that he IS still housebroken - they are just using that as an excuse to dump him.

Spoke to the wife. *MAYBE* there is a chance for Alex to stay in his home. They have not done any allergy testing, but the vet gave an injection and pills which worked for a few days.

They are feeding Kibbles and Shits...oh I'm sorry, BITS. Cindy said she loves Alex and would like to keep him, but "it's not fair" to have him itch so much. NOTHING (so she says) has been changed, ie. cleaning products, furniture, carpeting. So I gave her 3 different foods to try. I am guessing she will go with the least expensive, Blue Buffalo. I also suggested TOTW and Wellness, grain free formulas where available. I know these 3 foods can be purchased locally.

She says she will give it til the end of the year to see if there is any improvement. I told her to mix slowly over the course of 10 days to 2 weeks.

As far as going potty in the house? It has happened 3 times in 6 months. Sorry, but that is NOT an issue to me.

I pointed out that an allergy test could be performed, but she does not want to pay that right now. So - let's see if it is the corn and grain filled food she is feeding.

I'm glad she was willing to talk. The surrender form made it seem like it had to happen NOW. Please cross paws. And any other suggestions, please let me know. I will pay for the allergy testing if needed, to keep him in his home.

IMPO, getting him off Kibbles and Shits will be a HUGE improvement.

Poor baby. I'm guessing that Dana is right on.

Bad food and no flea preventative = the dog has dry skin and fleas and they don't expect him to itch and scratch? Three accidents in half a year is "peeing and pooping in the house"?

Hopefully they will listen to you, Shannon, but this sounds like folks just looking for excuses to get rid of this dog.

What Jo said. I'd add that if they can't keep up with heartworm or flea preventative, they probably aren't doing much with grooming either. How much you want to bet you could add filthy coat to the mix? No wonder he's got the itchies.

She did say he was to the groomer twice this year and the groomer also didn't "see" anything (fleas etc) that should be causing itching. From what I understand he was then bathed and brushed out.

*sigh* I don't know.

And if they are feeding Kibbles and Bits at $16.00 for 40 lbs there is no way they are going to keep up with BB or TOTW at close to $50 for same size bag

They may not. I really don't know and I am not holding my breath that they will. But if I can buy myself some time to find a foster home for him, I'm going to.

I don't even have a place to put another crate.

That poor boy. We are sending all the positive vibes we got in hopes that a foster home will open up and you can get him back.

I hope they'll stick with a better food, but considering they don't bother with flea or heartworm preventative, they probably won't. Poor Alex.